Sharpton: Staten Island march won't be like Ferguson

When the Rev. Al Sharpton leads a march through Staten Island on Saturday, to protest the death of Eric Garner, it will not look like the scenes coming out of Ferguson, Missouri, according to city officials.

Police have struggled to quell the situation in Ferguson after the killing of an unarmed black man by police officers led to violent clashes between protesters and local police using military-style equipment.

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After a meeting with clergy leaders in Manhattan to discuss improving police-community relations on Wednesday, police commissioner Bill Bratton told reporters the march organizers and protesters themselves say they won’t stand for violence and that "in many respects, it’ll be a self-policed marched.” Mayor Bill de Blasio said the march “must be a peaceful protest to honor the cause that it represents.”

Sharpton, who attended the meeting, said the march is a “defining moment,” because “America must show the world—a world that we lectured to about how they handled police states, and how they handle the lack of democracy—we must show the world that we are mature enough to allow a citizenry to question those in authority but respect them at the same time.”

The August 23 march will proceed by caravan over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge into Staten Island, where marchers will walk from the location of Garner's death, past the office of the Staten Island district attorney who is investigating the incident.

The 90-minute meeting with clergy leaders on Wednesday was closed to the press. It took place in the residence of Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

After the meeting and a subsequent press conference, Dolan told Capital clergy members don't have to "reinvent the wheel" to improve police-community relations. "It's not like we have to start doing new, dramatic things. We've got to amplify the good work that we're doing," he said.

This was the second such meeting de Blasio has held following the July 17 death of Garner.

The earlier meeting in City Hall was overshadowed by comments Sharpton made about the mayor’s bi-racial son Dante being a potential “candidate” for a chokehold, the banned police technique, which a medical examiner ruled was responsible for Garner’s death.

After the meeting Wednesday, Sharpton focused his attention on the upcoming march, and contrasting it with the violence in Ferguson.

Afterward, I asked Sharpton how he’ll measure the results of meetings like today’s.

“A year ago, we had stop and frisk," he said. "A year later, we do not. So clearly, these things lead to results.” He also disputed a television reporter's question that said the protests in Ferguson were violent.

"First of all, the protests in Ferguson are not violent. It is those at night; they're very separate," he said, adding that's why the family of the victim asked him to get involved. "There is no leadership like that in Ferguson and I think that's what we're trying to build. And I think they began seeing it is better to have civil rights activists and others in a town that can do that, and can teach people how to express their grievances than to have no leadership. That's part of the problem."

Later, I asked Sharpton if he still felt the mayor’s son was a potential candidate for a police chokehold.

“See, you’re playing for a cheap headline and I’m not going to do that,” he said, and walked away.

The most tangible result of today's meeting, according to attendees, was an effort to have churches, synagogues and mosques communicate more openly with law enforcement officials, each other, and city residents.

De Blasio bristled at reporters who questioned whether the plan emerging from today's meeting was simply to "preach to the choir" of residents already engaged with houses of worship.

"In a democratic society, people act in accordance with how much they feel heard," he said. "A lot of times over the years, folks felt aggrieved and they didn't feel there was an outlet. The very act of active and compassion listening actually changes people."